Pretty Persuasion

TEEN SPIRIT
Sandra Kraisirideja

Wearing blue jeans, a black shirt and green Chuck Taylor sneakers, Evan Rachel Wood looks like a regular teenager from the valley, which she is. But she’s also quickly becoming one of the best young actresses in Hollywood.

Living in Woodland Hills has helped Wood maintain some semblance of normalcy in her life.

“I just go to my little, suburban, quiet neighborhood and hang out. I’m sure my mom would kill me if she saw me on the Sunset Strip at some club. I’d be dead,” said Wood.

She also has a lot of the same friends from when she was seven years old who help keep her from getting jaded.

What helps her is “keeping those people around and the people who are really your friends around to remind you of when you were seven and a dork,” said Wood, who turns 18 next month.

For her birthday she’ll be busy filming in New York and has heard rumors that the cast is going to take her out.

“Who knows what they have in store for me? They’ll probably tie me up and throw me in a taxi,” said Wood, who “can’t wait” to be in New York without her parents and in her own apartment for the first time. “I’ve been craving that for so long,” she said.

This month Wood stars in “Pretty Persuasion,” a satirical look at fame and the lengths one teenager will go through to get it.

Wood comes across as being very mature for her age, but she still finds ways to, like on a recent trip to Disneyland where she and her friends donned iPods while on the rides.

“Dude, it’s fun. Go on It’s a Small World, but have ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ in your ear. It’s awesome,” said Wood.

She was born in Raleigh, North Carolina to two stage actors who encouraged her to perform as soon as she could walk and talk.

“When I was little it was all just really nonchalant and normal,” said Wood of all of the acting she did. It wasn’t until she got older that she realized how lucky she had been.

Wood said her older brother, Ira, who has a small part in “Pretty Persuasion” has been very supportive of her career and she hopes he gets the attention he deserves soon. “He’s handsome and talented,” she said.

Wood’s first big break was on the ABC series “Once and Again,” playing Sela Ward’s daughter, but it was her turn as the self-destructive Tracy in “Thirteen” that took her career to another level.

Since then Wood has continued to play interesting, challenging roles with top name directors and actors. She starred as one of Cate Blanchett’s daughters in Ron Howard’s dark western “The Missing” and followed that up with “The Upside of Anger” opposite Kevin Costner and Joan Allen.

Wood has discriminating tastes when it comes to well-written scripts and has several films she’s attached to that are waiting for funding. Her own taste in film leans toward fantasy. “Edward Scissorhands” and “Labyrinth” are among her favorites and Wood, a self-described “quoting machine” knows all the lines from beginning to end.

Of the actresses under 30, Wood cited Maggie Gyllenhaal’s career as one she admires. “She’s so different and so interesting and really found her own cool, unique style and is working with good people and doing good movies. Yeah, she’s always great, and she’s dating Peter Saarsgard. Go Maggie,” Wood said.

“Pretty Persuasion” director Marcos Siega said Wood’s performance is “as good as Nicole Kidman’s in ‘To Die For.’” It’s an interesting comparison since Wood’s character, Kimberly Joyce, has similar motivations to Kidman’s character in “To Die For.”
Both characters will do anything for fame and skillfully use their sexuality to manipulate those around them to further their own goals.

Capitalizing on the public’s insatiable appetite for public trials and the media’s need for scandal, Kimberly and her friends sue their English teacher (Ron Livingston) for sexual harassment.

The media coverage gives Kimberly the edge she needs to score a television role, but her true motivation is not revealed until the final scene of the movie.

With its strong language, racist overtones and sexual promiscuity, “Pretty Persuasion” doesn’t pull any punches and will be released without a rating on Aug. 12 by Samuel Goldwyn Films.

Source: Originally printed in Entertainment Today